Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Coin-operated games and arcades.
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Lordstar
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Lordstar »

LOL! its a small world after all. I recon i will likely know you from out and about If you used to hang around quiggins and such. How old are you dude?
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Ringtail »

kernow wrote:http://www.flickr.com/photos/48043484@N00/

This new one opening in LA today looks like it has promise. I wanna go! :)

I dunno I hate the all candy cabs thing. Don't get me wrong I know they are fantastic to play on but it kinda gives the arcade a really cold atmosphere as opposed to walking into an older arcade full of dedicated cabs with sideart and big stonking marquees. I hope it goes well for them but it's just not very inviting looking :/
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Lordstar »

Ringtail wrote:
kernow wrote:http://www.flickr.com/photos/48043484@N00/

This new one opening in LA today looks like it has promise. I wanna go! :)

I dunno I hate the all candy cabs thing. Don't get me wrong I know they are fantastic to play on but it kinda gives the arcade a really cold atmosphere as opposed to walking into an older arcade full of dedicated cabs with sideart and big stonking marquees. I hope it goes well for them but it's just not very inviting looking :/
I agree! they need to get one or two dedicated cabs in there and really go all out on the Artwork on the walls. Theres too many cool arcade posters not to fill all that tasty wall space :P
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Checen Rebel
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Checen Rebel »

Lordstar wrote:LOL! its a small world after all. I recon i will likely know you from out and about If you used to hang around quiggins and such. How old are you dude?
I'm 30 but I didn't hang around there much though - I always preferred manchester, leeds and sheffield when I was younger. The missus was a proper quiggins rat though, her and a few friends pretty much lived there from the late 90's to the early 00's. She's only 25 though.

Well there and the krazyhouse - who had bouncers that would let underage goth girls in if they showed their tits. Nice job if you can get it... =]

It's the palace that I miss (not the way it was just before it shut - the way it was upto about 95).


To get back on topic - I wouldn't do it at all to be honest. Doing something that you enjoy as a hobby and turning it into a business is a sure way of changing your opinion of that hobby. I used to obsessively love games, then I opened an indie game shop about 8 years ago. It made me hate games with a passion, and even now there are very few games I can be bothered to play - and none for more than 20mins at a time.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Mr. H »

Yes. There is a nice sized building for rent right now right across the street from the college in my home town. I've often thought about it, but there's no way I would have the money to get something like that off of the ground. I'd have to move back in with my folks at the age of 30 and save EVERYTHING for 2 years....then maybe. IMO, this is one of the choicest places I've ever seen for an arcade. We have a Scandia in town, so I'd have to make this arcade more for adults with full bars and real food to order. The place already has a bar and a full kitchen. It would just be taking out most of the booths and tables for games. It's so close you can actually see the enterence to the school from the front door of the place. The school has 8000+ plus students and having somewhere to drink and game within walking distance would be awesome. I also know college kids are broke, so I'd make food/drinks fairly priced and the games based on credits. SSU students get 2 free credits with every beer, lol. or something like that. Anyways...all a dream. Not going to happen. But, fun to think about.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by John James Pacinelli »

Well what I actually meant was "have you ever FANTASIZED of quitting your job and open an arcade. But it's good to see that some of you guys are actually seriously thinking abt opening up an arcade. I respect you, it takes moxie....
and about 20 grand :awe:
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Pete »

grantspain wrote:
Irmscher wrote:They still have HOTD2 at my local, just shows that this game is still making cash after 10 years.
we still have hodt1 :o
Would like to get that, but the woodie cab is too big & heavy.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by John James Pacinelli »

ArcadeUfo is doing good.

http://arcadeheroes.com/2008/09/17/more ... -in-texas/

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/09/a-n ... de-in.html

YEAH! COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!COME BACK!
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by pubjoe »

Right, I'm going to make a post that I may in the future delete as it's a bit personal.

- [aaaaaaaand cut :) ] -

Any opinions?
Last edited by pubjoe on September 28th, 2008, 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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John James Pacinelli
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by John James Pacinelli »

I think that an arcade business is suicide round here->
You got it. I forecast a comeback in the US. Times are too mature for a comeback in the UK or Europe.
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John James Pacinelli
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by John James Pacinelli »

Some very interesting videos, thanks to arcadeheroes for posting these vids:


http://www.revver.com/video/1150911/arc ... tion-part/
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by pubjoe »

you know, it's ****. Big chains monopolize everything. Hard to think of any little shop/business that could survive.

Admittidly though, an arcade isn't the first thing you should think of.
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Mr. H
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by Mr. H »

I think it just has to go towards the right crowd. Make it a nice place, some pool tables, full bar, good food, fair prices, some redemption for winning your girl something, lots of shooting and driving games....IMO, Dave and Busters here in Nor Cal does just fine. There is nowhere around like it and the line was out the door just for the food. You start a hole in the wall with just some cabs and a quarter/change machine....it's not going too far. Like I said before, we have a scandia that's been here since I was a kid. But golf, the boats, race track, batting cages, and redemption get way more draw than the actual games. IMO, you need more than a bunch of cabs to make an arcade stay alive these days. Even though the tech guy has been getting in some much better games as of late.

It would be a fun adventure though ,lol...anyone got $40,000 to "give" me for my adventure? LOL :lol:
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by ElectricFrenzy »

I'm a new member here. I found this forum in a search and this thread particularly caught my attention. I'm the owner of a very successful retro-arcade in the US.

I don't think arcades are dead (yet) but they have to be managed smartly. You guys who mentioned having to blend the arcade machines with other forms of entertainment are 100% correct. The higher cost of the machines makes it more difficult to earn a R.O.I.. By supplementing your income with other attractions you can EASILY float a nice arcade. I'm not so cash-rich that I can go and import a SFIV cab right now but I could easily justify the purchase (if the console games were released a year or so afterwards).

Just FYI, location is VERY important. I've opened my shop in a small college town with nothing to do. I instantly became the "it thing in town" and started turning a profit only 6 weeks into business. I'm now doubling the size of my location by new years and will be including a lot more arcade machines. I plan on doing this by purchasing numerous candy cabs and 30-40 different arcade boards. I'd be able to keep a "fresh inventory" rotated out every month.

My web page will be open in the next few weeks and I'd invite you all to check it out and see what I've done.

p.s. I actually did quit my job and open an arcade and it's been very good to me. Even with such a bad economy like we're seeing now.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by pubjoe »

Well done ElectricFrenzy! Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by John James Pacinelli »

ElectricFrenzy wrote:p.s. I actually did quit my job and open an arcade and it's been very good to me. Even with such a bad economy like we're seeing now.
YEAH! This is the reply I was waiting for when I started this thread!

So the secret recipe is location+other forms of entertainment :awe:

Read and learn you pessimistic biaitches! :awe:

Thank you for sharing this ElectricFrenzy.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by thebutcherjb »

Heh the funny thing about this post is I was thinking about this a couple of days ago and having a bunch of candy cabinets as the main arcade part and then have like a U.S. section for like Mortal Kombat and other U.S. based Cabinets.
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by ElectricFrenzy »

My shop is about half and half.... half arcade and half consoles. I have 5 hi-def gaming stations each with their own ps3/350/wii on them and then I have another 5 arcade cabinets (currently.) When I'm able to move into my new location I'll be adding 5 more game stations and another 3-4 candy cabs.

The key to having steady income really comes from the console games. They are much cheaper to provide and upgrade while the arcade cabinets are there for "instant gratification". I get impulse spending on the arcade machines but I pay the bills with consoles.

Just FYI, I'm thinking about ordering a SF4 and Tekken6 kit and I have a feeling it would be the dominant fixture in my location for the next 6 months or more. There's already lines forming for DDR. I can't imagine what it would look like for a good game!
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by cools »

ElectricFrenzy wrote:Just FYI, location is VERY important. I've opened my shop in a small college town with nothing to do. I instantly became the "it thing in town" and started turning a profit only 6 weeks into business.
6 weeks? :shock: That's insanely good going :)

Best of luck with your arcade! Post some pics :)
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Re: Have you ever thought of quitting your job and…

Post by undamned »

I've thought about this, too, but honestly, I think it'd be more realistic to do something like this when you are retired. You will be lucky to make enough money running an arcade just to keep the doors open, let alone make a profit. If you were retired you could just enjoy running the place rather than stressing about keeping food on the table.
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